Quote:
Originally Posted by Arragonis
Why the toffee are they paying someone to a specific 3cyl engine which makes the same as the Suzuki 3cyl 1 litre (55 hp) when there are engines of the same capacity making 15hp more from, you know, small town manufacturers like Toyota, Ford and VAG ?
Well it obviously isn't because of efficiency.
Is it improved spares availability, or maybe cheaper spares costs from, er, volume manufacture ?
Oh, maybe not.
|
Well... I've been following Elio closely for over a year now.
As I see it, the first and most important reason to build their own engine is to NOT be at the whim and mercy of a supplier who has no interest in the long term survival of Elio Motors. That would remove every potential supplier who also provides engines for any major automotive manufacturer, US or overseas. And for those few "independent" engine builders? If GM or Ford or anyone else really wants to, a phone call to the engine builder could cut off Elio's engine supply quickly.
Another very important reason is that the Elio engine is being built to match the Elio vehicle's purpose. It is being built with higher torque than the Geo/Suzuki engine, and a very wide power band. In other words, you won't have to get it up to 3000-4000 rpm in order to get decent power out of it. The long intake tubes visible in the shot of the mockup engine also go towards that goal.
That, in turn, goes along with the five speed manual transmission. It will not be six, due to cost and space restraints. A computer controlled gears + clutch type auto trans will also be offered, and it also will not have six speeds. I've seen conflicting reports as to whether the auto version will be single or dual clutch.
So with "only" five gears and looking for high mpg, I can see they will space those gear ratios pretty far apart, and take advantage of their engine's wide torque band to get the most out of those wide ratios.
The Geo/Suzuki engine is carbureted. Yes they could set it up with EFI but much better to start from scratch.
The Geo/Suzuki has a cast iron block. I'm not sure about the head. Maybe also heavy stuff. The Elio engine is all aluminum, with plasma spray, micons-thin, ultra hardened cylinder liners that transmit heat far better than steel sleeves pressed into aluminum.
Flame-Spray_Industries,_Inc.
Just a few info bits here, to show some of the good reasons for Elio's proprietary purpose-built engine.